Beatrice opened the door to her apartment and was greeted by the sight of Anna and Max on her couch, playing some game she could care less about. She entered her home, closing the door behind her, and sat her bag on the counter. 

Spike was the first to notice her return, as he immediately hopped up from his position on the floor in front of the couch and ran towards her with a dog's approximation of a smile and began pawing at her thigh and licking her hand.

Max and Anna turned towards her direction upon noticing the small dog take off. 

“Hey, hey,” Max greeted with a smile and a wave. Beatrice glanced over to her and Anna.

“How was yooour day,” Max asked.

“Fine, you can go home now,” Beatrice responded dryly.

An odd expression formed on Anna's face, ‘That wasn’t very nice,’ she thought to herself.

“Oh, y-yeah,” Max stammered out as she stood to collect her system and place it back in her bag.

The room fell into a bit of an awkward silence as Max finished grabbing her things and headed for the door.

“Well it’s been fun, Anna. We should hang out again sometime,” Max said with a smile. Anna returned it with a small smile of her own and a nod. Max then glanced over to Beatrice and shot her a wave in a smile. Beatrice regarded the woman with a look, but nothing more.

Max opened the door to leave, but was stopped by a voice.

“Thanks.”

Max looked back over towards Beatrice and flashed her an even wider smile before leaving. After she was gone, Beatrice looked over towards Anna.

The girl in question felt a bit uncomfortable under her gaze, as she turned her eyes downward and twiddled with the flower in her hands.

“So uhm,” Beatrice began awkwardly, “If you’re hungry, there’s leftovers in the fridge.” 

Anna nodded as she continued to play with the flower. This whole situation felt awkward for Beatrice; no doubt it did for Anna as well. She’s never really had anyone living with her in her home for a prolonged period of time like this, let alone a kid. She didn’t have a clue on how this was going to work.

She thought back to the expressions of fear and hurt on the girl's face when they found her, the sorrow she was undoubtedly feeling, and how this girl's situation somewhat mirrored her own all those years ago. 

‘I have to try,’ she thought to herself.

“U-uhm,” Anna stammered out, drawing Beatrice’s attention. She seemed to be struggling to say what she wanted. “I just wanted to…” 

Her voice seemed to trail off a bit. Beatrice understood what she was trying to say. 

“Don’t worry about it.” She sent a small smile the girl's way. Anna looked up towards her with a slight shimmer in her eyes.

Beatrice stretched as she moved towards her room to grab a change of clothes before going to take a shower. Anna looked back down at the wilting flower in her hand. ‘Why are you helping me,’ she mentally questioned.

Beatrice laid back on her couch, the only source of light in her living room being the screen of her phone. She was looking through some local news reports. The killer that has been targeting Tomaru Corp. personnel has been unusually quiet. There hasn’t been a single report brought in, a news report broadcasted or body found as of late. 

She thought back to the situation regarding the Auto Droid Anna was so close with. ‘Could he? No, Mr. Tomaru made it perfectly clear that the one we’re after is specifically targeting his people,’ she thought to herself. 

‘Still, that situation is also worth a look through. An A.D. going against its programming and murdering it’s human charge, and apparently to protect someone at that. Something odd is going on here.’

She placed her phone down and stared up through the darkness of her living room, towards her ceiling. ‘Two Auto Droids gone rogue, one apparently gaining human emotions. I  can only assume it’s the same for the other. Perhaps it’s driven by anger? A need for vengeance? What has spurred the droid killing Tomaru Corp. workers to betray it’s creators? What could this mean for the world at large if more Auto Droids start going rogue, start becoming more human?”

A distant cry roused Beatrice from her thoughts as she perked up a bit on the couch and listened. She heard another cry off towards the direction of her room.

‘Anna?’ Beatrice hopped up off of the couch and moved towards her room. The door was cracked open slightly. She opened it further and peered inside the dimly lit room. Anna was in her bed tossing and turning. Beatrice noticed tears streaming down her face.

‘She’s having a nightmare,’ Beatrice thought, as she moved to wake her.

Anna slowly opened her eyes and was greeted by a ceiling fan spinning slowly. She sat up in the messy bed she was in and looked around. The room looked familiar to her. She heard a loud crash coming from outside the room and walked slowly towards the door.

“ANNA, HELP ME,” she heard someone yell from beyond the door. She knew that voice. 

“M-Marck,” she mumbled. After a moment's hesitation, she tore the door open and sprinted down the hall towards some stairs. She ran down them as fast as she could to find her dad backing Marckus into a corner. A metal bat was in his hand and visible damage was dotting Marckus’ arms and face as crimson, synthetic blood fell from some of his wounds.

“You piece of shit bot! Who told you to touch my stash, huh,” her father uttered venomously down towards Marckus.

“I-I-I’m sorry sir I was only trying to help! Those drugs will kill you if you don’t stop!”

Anna's father got even angrier. “WHO THE FUCK TOLD YOU TO TOUCH MY STASH,” he roared before raising the bat and striking Markus repeatedly over his head.

Tears started to well in Anna's eyes as she watched her father beat Marckus; as she heard his cries and pleas for him to stop.

“HELP ME, ANNA,” she heard Marckus yell once more. Anna snapped out of her frozen state and found the strength to push past her fear just enough to run to her father and try to stop him.

“Daddy, stop!” she yelled as she grabbed at his arms and tried to stop him. He ignored her and kept swinging. Marckus’s face was becoming a bloody and unrecognizable mess as his shell was beginning to expose itself from under his torn-away synthetic flesh. 

Anna attempted to push her father, but got shoved back hard and hit her head on the floor. She was dazed and blood poured from her head. She heard Marckus continue to scream for her to help him and the sounds of the bat striking him. His voice became more robotic and distorted as this went on and she began to cry harder as she covered her ears.

But it was no use. It was as if he was crying out for her through her mind. 

“AN-N-N-NA H-H-HELP MEEEEEEEEeeee!” 

All the noise stopped and everything went silent. For what seemed like an eternity, Anna just laid there on the cold, hard floor. Tears streamed down her face as she kept her ears covered.

‘No,’ she thought to herself in her broken state. She felt a hand on her shoulder and opened her eyes.

“Marck,” she began, hoping that what had transpired was just an illusion and that Marckus was fine. That he would take her away from this place and they’d be happy together. 

Instead she was met with her father. No, not her father. The thing she saw looked like him, but its eyes were like endless voids with piercing red irises and blood poured from them and his skull. The stench of alcohol clung to the air.

A look of horror adorned Anna's face and she tried to get away but her body was paralyzed.

“N-NO!”

“It’s all your fault,” her dad began in a pained voice. “She left because of you. If you hadn’t come along, she’d still be here with me. Instead, I’m left with you, a bastard child, and that damned robot.”

More tears began to stream down Anna's face. “It’s your fault,” this nightmarish version of her father said once more.

“It’s your fault, it’s your fault, IT’S YOUR FAULT, IT’S YOUR FAULT, IT’S YOUR FAULT, IT’S YOUR FAULT!”

Her father grabbed her and flipped her onto her back. She tried to crawl away, but her limbs remained frozen. “NO!”

He placed a hand on her face and forced it towards the direction of Marckus. Forcing her to watch his mutilated and decapitated head. She heard the slight clank of metal and the sound of something running through cloth. She screamed as she prayed so desperately for her body to move.

“THIS IS YOUR FAULT, YOU DESERVE THIS,” her father shouted out. A loud, demonic laugh iminated him.

Tears flowed down her face as she tried desperately to tune out the inevitable. The stench of alcohol on his skin, his hot and panting breath against her ear, the pain he caused her.

She forced her attention on to Marckus’s head. It was like he was watching her; watching her father take everything away. ‘Don’t look at me,’ she cried out mentally.

“Anna,” she heard his voice call out from seemingly everywhere yet nowhere.

‘Don’t look at me, please,’ she repeated.

“ANNA.” The voice seemed louder and more… feminine? 

“I SAID DON’T LOOK AT ME,” Anna cried out.

“ANNA, WAKE UP.” The voice reached her more clearly. She knew that voice. 

Anna's eyes darted open as she felt a hand on her shoulder, shaking her. 

“Anna, wake up,” Beatrice called to the girl. Anna shot up and instantly began panicking, catching Beatrice by surprise. 

“DON’T TOUCH ME,” she yelled. Anna began to hyperventilate as she hugged herself into a ball.

“Anna it’s just me ok. It’s just me. I’m not going to hurt you,” Beatrice said reassuringly. Anna wasn’t listening. She buried her head in her knees and began to cry.

“Anna,” Beatrice uttered as she regarded the girl in pity.

‘Maybe it’s better if I leave her be,’ The woman thought to herself as she stood up and looked down at her. After a while, she turned to leave. “I’ll get you something to drink and…”

“NO,” Anna cried out. “Please stay. I don’t want to be alone. He’ll  come for me!”

Beatrice stopped as a confused expression painted her face. “Who will?”

Anna didn’t answer as she fiddled with her shirt a bit. “Please,” she eventually said in a pleading tone. 

“O-ok,” Beatrice responded as she walked back towards her. Anna laid back down as Beatrice pulled a chair from her small desk in front of her bed and sat down next to the girl.

“I’m sorry,” Anna apologized.

“Don’t be,” Beatrice responded. Anna stared at the small scar on Beatrice's forehead as she tried to clear her mind. It took a while, but Anna was able to fall back asleep. This time she dreamt of just Marckus and how he used to sit with her at night whenever she had nightmares and sing to her.

A tear fell down her cheek in her sleep, but other than that she seemed to be resting peacefully. Beatrice stared at her, her mind wondering just how bad this girl's life has been up to this point. She pulled out her phone and decided to watch some anime to pass the time.

It’s not like she was going to get much sleep to begin with.